  
| ||||
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| Irvine did everything right on the day. |
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| Hakkinen is stuck behind Schumacher. |
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| Schuey waved Eddie past twice, even sprayed his champagne. |
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| A shroud covers the F399 following post-race scrutineering. Tyres were worn out as well. |
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| Those dratted rules. |
GRAND PRIX : Malaysia : Victory And Disqualification
A perfect qualifying performance saw the two Ferraris on the front row of the grid - a position which was utilised to the full as Michael Schumacher and Eddie Irvine disappeared into the distance, leaving the rest of the field floundering in their wake.
"Not only is Michael the best Number One driver - he is also the best Number Two," said Irvine in recognition of Schumacher's brilliant return to the F1 arena which saw the German control the McLaren attack and then hand Irvine the victory to help his Championship hopes.
It was a win that might have gone Mika Hakkinen's way had McLaren not made the surprising decision to make two pit stops despite the fact that he was the only driver in the field to run the harder compound rubber and the least troubled by tyre wear.
"I don't want to talk about it. It was a decision that came from the team," said an exhausted Hakkinen after the race which he described as the " hardest race of my life."
"I had to drive flat out all the way. I was never sure when Michael was going to brake. I had to be careful and it took maximum concentration to follow him for most of the race," said Hakkinen.
"They had brilliant tactics. I don't blame them," added Hakkinen after finishing third to the Ferrari pair.
For Schumacher it was a perfect return. "Sure I would have liked to have won, but it wouldn't make sense with the Championship the way it is," he said. He had led the first three laps of the race from pole before handing the lead to Irvine and then working hard to stay ahead of the two McLarens. David Coulthard surprised him on lap 5 to take second place, damaging the front wing of Schumacher's car as he squeezed him out of a corner. "I lost a bit of the wing later on in the race and that caused a lot of understeer problem on my second stint," explained Schumacher, who set the fastest lap of the race on lap 25.
Coulthard's chase of Irvine lasted just 14 laps when he coasted to a stop with a dead engine and suspected fuel pump failure.
Despite the softer tyres, the Ferrari team gambled on a one stop strategy for Schumacher in order to better aid Irvine who stopped twice, like Hakkinen. It was a strategy which paid off, for Schumacher was able to slow Hakkinen's progress again after Irvine's second stop, which briefly dropped him back to third place, until Hakkinen made a late second stop putting the Irishman back into second place. For the second time Schumacher then moved over and let Irvine take the lead that was now secure to the finish.
Meanwhile, Hakkinen was further delayed in the closing stages when he had to fight his way past Johnny Herbert's Stewart- Ford, which ended up in fourth spot, Hakkinen trailing the two Ferraris by almost 10 seconds at the flag. Rubens Barrichello took fifth spot behind his team-mate having lost the advantage when he also made a second stop compared with Herbert's one stop tactic.
Heinz-Harald Frentzen took the final point of the day, a good result considering he had started from 14th place on the grid after a troubled qualifying session.
In all, only half the 22 starters made it home to the flag, six of them out of the race in the first 7 laps.
The total Ferrari triumph was shattered following post-race scrutineering when it was found that the turning vanes fitted to either side of the F399s were up to 1 cm outside of the regulations. Both cars were disqualified and with that Mika Hakkinen became World Champion and McLaren have won the Constructors' Championship. Ferrari have, however, appealed the decision and therefore the race results, as well as the Championship standings, must remain provisional.
Ferrari have issued the following statement:
"Both Michael Schumacher's and Eddie Irvine's Ferraris have been excluded from the Malaysian Grand Prix results. Ferrari has rejected FIA's decision."
Sepang, 17.10.99
Malaysian Grand Prix
World Championship of Drivers, round 15;
Sepang, October 17th, 1999;
56 laps, 310,362 kms.
Weather: dry, partly cloudy
CLASSIFIED
Pos Driver Team Time
1. Hakkinen McLaren Mercedes 1h 36:48.237
2. Herbert Stewart Ford + 7.795
3. Barrichello Stewart Ford + 22.553
4. Frentzen Jordan Mugen-Honda + 25.141
5. Alesi Sauber Petronas + 44.665
6. Wurz Benetton Supertec + 51.191
7. Gene Minardi Ford + 1 Lap
8. Zanardi Williams Supertec + 1 Lap
9. Fisichella Benetton Supertec + 4 Laps
NOT CLASSIFIED / RETIREMENTS
Driver Team On Lap Reason
Irvine Marlboro-Ferrari 56 Disqualified
Schumacher Marlboro-Ferrari 56 Disqualified
Villeneuve BAR Supertec 48 Gearbox
Diniz Sauber Petronas 44 Spun off
De La Rosa Arrows TWR 30 Engine
Badoer Minardi Ford 15 Engine
Coulthard McLaren Mercedes 14 Engine
R.Schumacher Williams Supertec 7 Spun off
Takagi Arrows TWR 7 Broken driveshaft
Zonta BAR Supertec 6 Spun off
Panis Prost Peugeot 5 Engine
Hill Jordan Mugen-Honda 0 Accident
Trulli Prost Peugeot 0 DNS
Fastest Lap: M. Schumacher, Lap 64, 1:40.267 (198,980 km/h)
Drivers Points Standings after 15 rounds:
1. Hakkinen 72
2. Irvine 60
3. Frentzen 53
4. Coulthard 48
5. R.Schumacher 33
6. M.Schumacher 32
7. Barrichello 23
8. Herbert 18
9. Fisichella 13
10. Salo 10
11. Hill 7
= Trulli 7
13. Wurz 4
14. Diniz 3
= Alesi 3
16. Panis 2
= de la Rose 1
= Gene 1
Constructors' Points Championship:
1. McLaren-Mercedes 120
2. Scuderia Ferrari 102
3. Jordan-Mugen Honda 60
4. Stewart-Ford 41
5. Williams-Supertec 33
6. Benetton-Playlife 17
7. Prost Peugeot 9
8. Sauber-Petronas 4
9. Arrows 1
= Minardi 1
(all results provisional)
Acknowledgements :
Photos - Sutton Images, Daily F1, EMPICS
Race Data - Atlas F1
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